In the semiconductor industry, the need for clean processing environments is well known. During processing semiconductor substrates are transported in carriers through the processing environment. Conventional semiconductor substrate carriers consist of a box and a cassette. The box is a container with a lid that is hinged. The cassette physically holds semiconductor substrates and fits in the box for transporting purposes. The cassette is removed from the box during a semiconductor processing step at a particular tool. The particle size allowed is dependent upon a minimum geometric feature of the semiconductor process being implemented. As minimum feature sizes become smaller, the need for improved clean room environments will increase. A couple of known means for implementing a mini-environment are described in the Standard Mechanical Interface specification (SMIF) and the carrier systems of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/680,343 filed Jul. 12, 1996, and is incorporated herein.
Typically, the carrier is placed onto a non-retractable platform that extends into a processing bay of a semiconductor substrate fabrication facility. The platform interferes with laminar air flow within the fab and requires more fab floor space.
In order to access the enclosed semiconductor substrates, the carrier, sometimes referred to as a pod, is placed upon a receptacle which removes the sealed mini-environment pod door and lowers door and semiconductor substrates into a tool environment where the semiconductor substrates can be further accessed. One problem associated with this type of carrier is that the mechanism which lowers the semiconductor substrates into the tool environment does so by lowering the pod door. This permits the outside of the door, which has been exposed to the relatively dirty manufacturing environment, to be lowered through the tool mini-environments where a stricter clean room standard is maintained. The result is potential contamination of the mini-environment.
The prior art manufacturing apparatus, illustrated in FIG. 1, intrudes into the operative floor space of the fabrication environment, prohibiting operator interface within full effective ergonomic limits. Operators are not able to freely navigate through the fabrication environment. In designing such environments it is desirable to maximize the space available. Additionally, as fabrication automation increases, it is desireable to reduce the requirement for direct operation of floor switches and buttons. Therefore, a need exists to have a fabrication environment where manufacturing apparatus is streamline, operative space is maximized, and operator interface is facilitated.